


Tumble

by ohgodmyeyes



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Quest Series - Jude Watson
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Board Games, Bonding, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Jenga, Loneliness, One Shot, Padawan Anakin Skywalker, Short One Shot, Teenagers, platonic fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 11:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27969746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohgodmyeyes/pseuds/ohgodmyeyes
Summary: Anakin goads Ferus into playing Jenga with him.
Relationships: Ferus Olin & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Tumble

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JustBeStill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustBeStill/gifts).



> Anakin is probably, I don't know, maybe 12-13 here? So Ferus is about 15-16.
> 
> This story is decidedly not romantic, but could certainly be foreshadowing a bit of Skylin.
> 
> For someone I'd like to play Jenga with!

"This is juvenile," said Ferus, staring disdainfully down his nose at the stack of plain, wooden blocks set up on the table between himself and his counterpart. They were in the Archives together right now; it was mid-afternoon. Ferus had been trying to study when he'd been intruded upon.

"Actually, it's fun," said Anakin, leaning in to examine the tiny structure. "Some old lady gave it to me at the end of my last mission with Master Obi-Wan, but no one wants to play it with me." 

Ferus, in his irritation, perhaps didn't notice that his fellow Padawan sounded more than a bit dejected. "You expect _me_ to do it, then?" he asked, looking across the table skeptically. 

"Like I said," Anakin told him, "No one else will."

"So you asked _everyone_ else in the Temple before you asked me?"

"Pretty much."

The manner in which Anakin spoke caused Ferus to grow even more annoyed; however, it also— somehow— endeared him to the idea of giving the younger boy's game a try. "...What is it called?" he asked, not without some hesitation.

"I have no idea," answered Anakin. "Anyway, it doesn't matter what it's called. Are you going to play, or not?"

Ferus took a few moments to glance between the open book before him (it was near-ancient; he'd been given special permission to view it), and Anakin Skywalker's face. The boy was young and cocky, and things came to him not only more easily than he deserved, but— Ferus was sure— also more easily than was good for him. Anakin made Ferus uneasy at the best of times; at the worst of times, the boy's demeanour drove him half-mad. He didn't like him; not in theory, or in practice.

Still, Ferus believed in compassion. It was an important quality for a good Jedi to possess, no matter how impersonal it might need to be... and he'd picked up on Anakin's dejection by then, if only minutely. His upbringing and his values were what pushed him to finally answer, "...Alright. Yes— yes, I'll play." After peering curiously at the little tower of blocks one more time (they were stacked three-by-three on top of one another), he added to that, "But only _once._ I was busy when you barged in here."

Anakin hated to admit it to himself, but Ferus' reluctance didn't put him off— not even a little bit. That was how very much he desired to have somebody play his game with him; wanted, really, to just sit and spend some time with someone for a while, no matter who that person happened to be. Right now, Ferus was as good as anybody. While he might not have appreciated Anakin's company (Anakin, of course, knew this), he didn't _always_ outright refuse it. For Anakin, that was adequate.

"Thanks," said the younger boy, more earnestly than he tended to say much of anything. It took Ferus slightly aback. "Here's how it works— you take turns trying to pull blocks out of the tower without making it fall down." As an example, Anakin poked the middle one of the very bottom row of blocks out from between its brethren, and set it atop the stack. "You can't take from the top, and the block you touch first is the block you take out— _even_ if you mess up, and pick one you know is going to make you lose."

Ferus fought the urge to roll his eyes, and reached out with his hand to poke at a different block for himself. It was right at one of the sides, but it was loose enough that Ferus knew its removal would not threaten the tower's integrity. He eased it out, and placed it in front of himself.

His expression must have betrayed a certain level of self-satisfaction, because Anakin smiled and said to him, "See? I told you it was fun!"

"...It's something to do," Ferus admitted, without admitting anything at all. "It's your turn now, isn't it?"

With a nod, Anakin took his turn; set his next block atop the tower. Ferus did the same.

They continued on this way for a little while; eventually, the tower began to look both disproportionately tall, and somewhat skeletal. It had started to wobble without either boy so much as having to touch it, and that meant that each of them had begun to take a bit more time calculating their moves prior to making them. They were both silent; didn't speak because they didn't have to. 

Anakin was just happy to play, and Ferus hadn't yet realized quite how absorbed he'd become in trying to keep the tower from falling. 

"Watch it!"

"What?"

 _"Watch it—_ it's leaning. Don't take any more from that side," said Anakin, pointing to an especially precarious section of the little structure.

Ferus tilted his head. "You're trying to make me lose, aren't you?" 

"I'm not!" Anakin protested. He really wasn't— truthfully, he didn't want the game to end, because he knew that when it was over, Ferus would go back to his book. Then he'd be alone again.

With an understated snort, Ferus defiantly grabbed at the piece he'd already selected in his mind, ignoring Anakin's objection. That, of course, made the remnant of the tower fall in on itself. The blocks clattered as they tumbled, and— to Ferus' immense incredulity— Anakin's face fell with them.

"Well, you won," said the elder of the two boys. "Now what?"

Still with a distinct (yet completely unintentional) air of disappointment, Anakin answered, "Now you go back to what you were doing. Right?" He began to gather up the blocks with the intent of placing them in the little, worn cardboard box from which he'd dumped them onto the table in the first place.

"...Not necessarily," ventured Ferus. "I have an idea." What in the name of the Force was he doing? Even he himself didn't quite know.

"An idea?" Anakin sounded hopeful. It was as accidental as when he'd let his own desolation creep into his voice (and onto his face).

"We'll play again, but this time, we won't use our hands."

"...No hands? You mean we'll use the Force?" The idea appealed to Anakin very much, even more so than playing in the traditional fashion.

"That's exactly what I mean," said Ferus, and this time he was the one to unwittingly betray his feelings. He was now quite eager to prove himself; besides that, Anakin hadn't been wrong: The game _was_ enthralling. Anyway, he considered, perhaps a break from his studies that day would do him good. He scarcely ever thought about anything but the tenants of the Order; in fact, it was the compassion that had been imparted onto him by his upbringing which had made him agree to play in the first place.

It wasn't going to kill Ferus to waste a little bit of time making an oft-insufferable boy happy. Perhaps if Anakin were happier, he'd be less insufferable.

Anakin set up the blocks again then, with Ferus watching all the while to ensure the job was being done fairly. When the tower was complete once more, the two of them went to work with their minds; selected and removed their blocks of choice using only the power of the Force. This time, Ferus went first.

Neither of them could have told anybody who won that second game, because it was by no means the last one they played that afternoon. They sat together in the Archives late into the evening, until they were finally shooed away by one of the elder Jedi. It was, by then, long past dinner time.

"Do you want to play again sometime?" asked Anakin, because although his desire for companionship had been sated for now, he knew it would resurface again in the future. It always did— nearly all Padawans his age were somewhat prone to loneliness, but Anakin was especially so.

"Maybe," said Ferus, _"if_ I've got nothing better to do."

Anakin didn't have to say anything after that, because he knew very well that Ferus' answer amounted to a 'yes'. He'd enjoyed the game just as much as Anakin had, and although he never would have admitted it outright, a large part of him was actually looking forward to the next time the boy might approach him asking to play it. 

The two went their separate ways that night upon leaving the Archives, retreating to their respective quarters; Anakin, of course, with his little box of blocks in hand. 

They were both wearing broad smiles, neither of them having realized how very much of themselves they had just shared with one another.


End file.
